Concorde Capital Research: Moody’s upgrades MHP rating to B3/Stable

Moody's Investors Service upgraded the corporate family ratings of MHP (MHPSA) to B3 with a stable outlook, the agency reported on Dec. 27. The rating is one notch above Ukraine’s sovereign. The agency noted that MHP’s business profile and financial metrics are strong for a B3 rating, but the company is exposed to an overall risky environment in Ukraine, where its key assets are located. On the other hand, the company’s strong export revenue partially offsets these risks.

Andriy Perederey: We agree with Moody’s that MHP has strong operating and financial metrics. Also, we expect the company’s EBITDA improvement in 2018. We do not expect the rating upgrade will have any impact on MHP’s Eurobonds, which already trade with the biggest negative spread to sovereign curve of all Ukrainian issuers.